January 1, 1862 to November 30, 1862

In a letter from R. Emmett Martin to his wife, one can see the content, yet suffering state of mind that most Confederate soldiers were in during the days following the Seven Days Battle. Soldiers wanted to be cheerful as they had just won a battle, but were seemingly unable to muster that emotion because of the losses they endured. The Seven Days Battle was technically a Confederate victory. However,...

There had been reports of horror coming from the battlefield at Manassas. In April 1862, the Senate Committee on the Conduct of War was asked to investigate accusations of Confederate crimes against Union dead and wounded at the First Battle of Manassas. On May 5, 1862, The Chicago Tribune published the Committee's report, including excerpts of testimony and their conclusions. The...

One morning in May two slaves, Sam and Mary, belonging to Mr. Mitthoff, left their home and went to Camp Parapet, a Union fort. They took with them an assortment of Mitthoff's property, including livestock, a cart, and clothing. Mitthoff's son went after the slaves and attempted to bring back the cart and other items.When leaving the camp he was asked to show his passports. He was then...

Dedication to one's state and the Confederacy was of utmost importance to citizens of the South during the Civil War. Union sentiment or the suggestion of a peace negotiation with the Federal Government was considered an abomination among stanch Southern Confederates, including women. However, Unionists did exist on the southern home front, a struggle that pitted families and neighbors against...

In March of 1862, a northern soldier stepped on board the steamer Union to accompany it on its journey down South to attempt to take the Confederate locations of Beaufort and Fort Macon. Once the ship landed on the North Carolina coast, the soldier disembarked and continued the voyage on foot with several other men. They were headed twenty miles north towards the city of Morehead City, North Carolina,...

The Civil War was raging on a day in early April in 1862 when Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan and his Union troops marched south from Fort Monroe. On his way south he and his army ran into a small group of Confederate troops led by Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder in Yorktown Virginia. Magruder put on a show and made McClellan think that he had a very large army behind him therefore encouraging McClellan...

In the middle of the night Richard, the Fearn's son, awoke his parents to tell them that New Orleans had fallen to the Yankees. During breakfast this unsettling news was reinforced as a man rode by the Fearn home yelling, The Yankees are coming It was clear to the Fearns that they had to leave their home as soon as possible. In the panic to depart, Mrs. Fearn was too distraught. She could barely...

Every year the Fearn plantation threw a ball in honor of the magnitude of work that had been done the year prior. The slaves put much effort into the night to make it the happiest of times. Slaves on the plantation looked forward to the ball each year. This year the ball fell on a beautiful night. The Fearns were the last to leave for the ball. As they followed the path to get there, a large slave...

A man sits astride a slick-coated war-horse at the forefront of battle. Uniform pressed, cap settled heavily atop his head of thick hair, hand wrapped around the hilt of his saber while his revolver sits at his hip, he demonstrates the epitome of order and ruthlessness on the battlefield. While a man on foot could be outfitted in the same manner as a cavalryman, he would never be able to compare...

For one of the first times in American history, the women of New Orleans were taking the protection of their city and its reputation into their own hands. Spitting and yelling at soldiers from the north and refusing to even acknowledge their presence in the streets, even when the soldiers were offering the women assistance. There were many hostile feelings between the north and the...